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Piketon on-site disposal opponents grow more vocal

Lower-level contaminated waste from the eventual demolition of the large process buildings on the Piketon DOE site will be disposed of in an on-site disposal facility. Several Piketon Village officials and residents are among those trying to get creation of the facility stopped and the waste shipped off site.(Photo: Submitted file photo)

PIKETON - Opposition to the ongoing creation of an onsite waste disposal cell for cleanup work on the Department of Energy property in Piketon is ramping up, with a public meeting to demonstrate that opposition set for later this month.

An organization calling itself Citizens Against Radioactive Dump in Pike County has announced a public meeting for 2 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Piketon High School cafetorium. In promotional material for the event, the organization is asking people to "Get the facts. Make your voice heard," and states the "radioactive waste dump" would be a decision that will impact Pike County forever.

The material also accuses DOE of lying to the residents of Pike County, states the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency failed to properly regulate and oversee project plans and claims DOE received waivers to regulations on the state and federal levels put in place to protect residents and the environment. It also refers to Kalbacher's assessment regarding fractures in the bedrock.

Work has already begun on creating the disposal cell, which the Department of Energy has indicated would be used to dispose of low-level contaminated waste from the decontamination and decommissioning work at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The rationale behind its creation is that while higher-level contaminants would still be shipped off site, having the ability to dispose of lower level contaminants locally would save the project money and reduce the risk of accidents through lower shipping volumes.

Piketon village officials, concerned about disposing any contaminated waste on the site, hired an independent consultant to review documentation used to create a Record of Decision that allowed the work to go forward. The most pressing of Karl Kalbacher's findings included his assertion that the bedrock is fractured in several places and could allow waste to migrate into the groundwater and that the bottom of the landfill's liner would not be at least 50 feet above historic high-water tables, violating the Toxic Substances Control Act.

DOE responded to those concerns, stating officials had reviewed Kalbacher's findings and stated that a lengthy investigation had been done prior to selection of the disposal site and that the specifications were set up with safety in mind and "long-term protectiveness of human health and the environment."

In its own response, Piketon Village Council on Aug. 7 passed a resolution formally opposing construction of the disposal facility, citing the third-party assessment done by The Ferguson Group's Kalbacher as a primary reason. Waverly Village Council had a similar resolution put before it during its meeting this week.

In a follow-up letter Aug. 10 to DOE's Robert Edwards III and Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler, Piketon Mayor Billy Spencer expresses concern over DOE's continued support of the disposal cell, requests a written response to concerns voiced in three separate letters sent to the agency and requests Ohio EPA hold a public meeting in Piketon no later than Sept. 8 with Piketon Village Council and the general public present to respond directly to comments.

Spencer closes with a plea to the Ohio EPA to reopen the Record of Decision and conduct further investigation into the concerns that have been raised.

"We have not received detailed answers to our questions and legitimate concerns, and we remain convinced that there is too much uncertainty with respect to the scope of investigation undertaken that led to the decision to construct the landfill," Spencer wrote. "We believe that a decision of such consequence to our community — the placement of a low-level nuclear and hazardous waste landfill that will contain radioactive material for millions of years — warrants the best-reasoned approach, the best site selection and the most thorough scientific and engineering assessment."